Separable fastener.



G. SUNDBACK.

SBPARABLE PASTI-INEE..

APPLICATION FILED ML2, 190e.

1,060,378. Patented ApII'. 29, 1913.

WIM/8858:

'GInEoN sUNDBAcK, or noBoKEN, NEW JEnsnY, AssIeNon To AUTOMATIG Hoon AND EYE COMPANY, A. comonnfrroN or NEW JERSEY.

SEPRABLE FASTENER.

To all whom, t may concern.:

Be it known that I, GIDEON SUNDBACK, a

subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and vState of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Separable Fasteners, of which the following is a full, clear,

and exact specification.

This invention relates to separable fasteners, and has particular reference to improvements in that type of separable fastener shown in Patent No. 7 88317 dated April 25, 1905, whereby the fastener is rendered more exible and the possibility of accidental disengagement of the hook and eye members obviated.

More specificallyy this invention is concer-ned with a`novel form ,of 'eye member over that shown in the patent aforesaid, together' with an improved-locking means for preventing disengagement of the fastener when the parts have once been coupled. The fastener of the'aforesaid patent generally .comprises two flexible stringers one of said;

stringers having its edge provided with, a series of hook members 'and the other Stringer having its edge provided with cooperating eye members, together with a sliding cam operating device mounted on both stringers whereby t'o couple and uncouple them. In this fastener, the hook members comprise channels clamped to the edge of the Stringer and having at one end projecting hook members overhanging the adjacent hook member, and these overhanginghook members engage with one end of channel eye members on the other Stringer, respectively opposite the hook members, themembers on each Stringer being slightly spaced apart to permit of the stringers being exed. In this construction a comparatively long hook member is required in order to remain in engagement with the eye member when y thestringers or chainsare bent, ,and as the eye at the side,

ber preferably comprisesa lchannelbase for Specification of Lettersnlatent. Patgntgd Apr, 2.99 1913,

Application led April 2, 1908. Serial No.- 424,688.

attachment "to the stringers and the-engaglng portion consists of a loop lying 1n a plane parallelto the Stringer, the hook members being disposed on the other chain relal tivelyto these eye members so thatthe point of the hook will-.pass through and vbe engagedrunder on'eaendz of the loop, while the sides of the loopfwill engage the shank of the hook and prevent its disengagementwhen the chainsare bent. By this construction, sidewise disengagement of ,the hook and eye is'prevented by the sides of the loop engaging the shank of the hook, per-V mitting the point of the hook to swing. freely through the necessary arc without affecting the engagement ofthe sides of the loop and the shank of the hook. In orderv to attain this result, it is desirable to locate the loop of the eye relatively to the hook in such position that the loop of the eye will include the axis about which the shankfof the hook member turns, so that there will be a very slight relative movement of the shank of the hook and the eye. a

A further feature of the invention comprises a locking member for preventing disengagement of the hook from the loop by alongitudinal movement, after the hook has passed into'the eye. Y

The invention will be more fully understood in connection with the description of the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l represents a perspective view of a. fastener embodying the invention,I showing the chains coupled; Fig. 2 is a detail view on an enlarged scale showing a fragment of the chain ,and an eye member; Fig.

3 is an edge view of the eye member showy ing the preferred form of loop; Fig. 4 is an edge View showin the position of the parts when the chain 1s bent; and Fig. 5 is a detail lview on anv 'enlarged' scale showing the ccnpl'lingmembersjwhen bent laterally. A

' said, each chain specifically comprising a' Continuous tape or Stringer hiwlng a'corded edge on which the links consisting of changarment or other device a bottom stop 7. The strucl nel-shaped pieces of metal are clampedby pressure. but it will be understood that. this imention is not restricted to a chain of any particular character or niaterialynor to any particular' character of link other than necessary to carry out the invention herein claimed. In practice, the hook links 3 will all be preferably mounted on one chain and the links 4 on the other chain and interlocking edgewise, the eye links being provided with a novel form of locking member to be hereinafter described for preventing disengagement by longitudinal movement. The hook members 3 are provided with engaging projections 8 consisting of a point 9 and a shank 10, which are in general similarl to the corresponding hook members shown in said patent, but by reason of the different construction of eye member herein described somewhat shorter than is necessary in the aforesaid construction.

The eye members shown in Figs. 2 and 3 comprise the channel body portion 4, which is clamped to the stringer similarly to the hook members, a shank 12, and a loop 13, the loop '13 being substantially flat and extending in a direction'parallel to the edge of the stringer and somewhat separated therefrom by reason of the shank 12. It will be noticed that the loop 18 projects beyond the end of the channel 4 so that it will overhang the adjacent eye member. The opposite end of the channel 4 of the eye member is provided with a stop lug 14, the function of which is to pass through the loop 13 of the next lower eye member, and act as a stop by engaging the shank o f the next hook member as shown in Fig. 5, so that this stop lug 14 engages the shank of the hook to prevent movement in one direction and movement of the shank in the other direction is prevented by the loop itself.

The slider 5 is provided with a cam edge 17 on the entering side of the hook carrying chain 1 for vautomatically turning the hooks into the engaging plane as they enter the slider, and the slider has converging cam channels through which the hook and eye members respectively pass in locking and unlocking. The operation of locking is effected by pulling the slider 5 upwardly on the chains causing the hooks to pass first through the loops 13 and then the-opposite locking lug 14 follows as shown in ig. 1, thus locking the hook. The operation of unlocking is effected by pulling the upper ends of the chains apart, causing the slider to slide down on the chains simultaneously, these operations of locking and unlocking being exactly the same as described iiithe aforesaid patent.

In the aforesaid Patent No. 788317, it will be observed that when 'the-coupled chains are bent, the points of the hooks tend to disengage themselves from the sides of the eyes, thus necessitating a longer hook in order lo prevent such disengagen'ient. The el'ect of making a longer hook is that disengagement is prevented, but in case of extreme bending, the point of the hook will be bent and in some instances brokenv oil by engagement of the point. of the hook with f the side of the eye. The distinguishing feature of this invention is that the point of the hook is only used to prevent bodily separation of the stringers while it is perfectly free to swing laterally through as large an arc of bending as is necessary, (see Fig. 5)', and disengagement of the eye from the hook by the lateral ilexure is prevented by\reason of the sides of the loop engaging the shank of the hook. It will also be observed that the respect-ive hook and eye members are somewhat staggered on the chains, this being to cause the axis of bending to pass through the eye, so -that thearc of movement of the shank of the hook may be very small relatively to the eye, whereby the point of the hook can swing through a maximum arc without in any way affecting the engagement of the hook and eye, which is not the case in the prior patent referred to.

In practice, it is 'advantageous to close the end of the loop, as herein shown, sincespecific construction herein described may be made without departing from the essential features of .the invention which is theref ore not to be limited to the exact construction herein described while within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I declare that what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

1 The combination with a stringer hav- -ing a hook member secured to its edge, of a second stringer having an eye member secured to its edge, said eye member comprising a loop extending longitudinally. of the stringer at a distance therefrom and adapted to receive saidhook, and a second member adjacent said eye member havinga projection adapted to enter said loop to confine the hook.

2. The combination with a pair of flexible stringers, one carryii'ig loop eye members and the other carrying hook members adapted to enter said loops, of a series of means entering said loops to confine the hooks therein.

3. A fastener comprising a. Stringer carryinto the eye. after the hook to confine the ing hook members on its edge, a. second. latter. 10

Stringer carrying loop eye members on its In testimony whereof I afix my signature, edge, through which loops the hooks pas's, a in presence of two Witnesses.

locking member also adapted to pass mto GIDEON SUNDBACK. the eye to confine the hook, and a sliding Witnesses: operating device mounted on both. stringers JULIAN S. WooSTER,

and causing the locking member to pass GEO. A. HOFFMAN. 

